揇id you just accept a drink from a complete stranger??he asks, nostrils flaring. 揂nd how are you getting home??
I hitch a shoulder. 揘o idea. I抣l figure it out.?I want to keep him on the phone, suspended in this moment where an us still exists, but it抯 painful at the same time. Every second just reminds me more and more of how much I liked him. And I did. I really, really did.
A female calls to him from another room, and my stomach drops so hard and fast I feel sick from the sudden change. 揑t sounds like you need to go.?
揟hey can wait,?he growls. 揝o you抮e in the mansion of some gamer you don抰 even know, drunk, and you have no idea how you抣l get home.?
The female voice is approaching, insistent and possessive.
揧ou抎 better go, Ben,?I reply. 揃efore your date sees you talking to someone else.?
And then I hang up the phone.
For the next two hours I continue to drink, but I can抰 numb myself enough to not be upset about the conversation.
All I really want to do is go curl up in the room Keeley抯 staying in here and weep, but I suspect she and the guy she抯 seeing already had sex in the bed, so I remain in place, perched on the edge of the hot tub while she persuades two guys to rub our shoulders and two other guys to rub our feet.
I guess I am drunk because there抯 literally no way I抎 go along with this sober.
揑 liked him,?I whisper. It抯 possible I抳e said this several times since I ended that call.
Keeley leans her head on my shoulder for a half second. 揑 know, babe. Pick someone here instead. Anyone. Sleep with Jason if you want. I really don抰 mind.?
I laugh miserably. 揑 don抰 want to sleep with anyone. Not even Jason, but I appreciate the offer.?
揗ore alcohol, then,?she says, raising my empty glass and hers. 揥e need two more boys to fetch us fresh drinks!?
I laugh again and close my eyes, wishing I could just have this whole day behind me. And then Keeley says, 搖h oh? and I open them again卼o discover Ben standing on the other side of the hot tub. He抯 wearing jeans and an unbuttoned flannel shirt over a t-shirt, looking better than any man ever has卆side from the fact that he is very, very angry. Although that looks sort of good on him too.
The rubbing stops.
揟hought you were in Palm Springs,?I call over the music, and for the first time I hear myself. It turns out I am drunk.
揋emma,?he says, eyes narrowed, 揷an I speak to you??
I get the feeling he抯 not actually asking. I climb out梞y feet no longer working as well as they did when I climbed in梐nd he pushes through the crowd to wrap a towel around me.
揥hat are you doing??he asks.
揑抦 celebrating Jesus抯 birth, obviously.?
The DJ chooses this moment to put on 揟alk Dirty to Me.?
His nostrils flare. 揧ou抮e drunk. Let抯 go.?
I stiffen. I抦 not doing this again. I抦 not letting someone else hold all the cards and dictate how I lead my life while refusing to invite me into his. I抦 not letting someone convince me I抦 the issue.
揊uck you,?I reply, which is far less eloquent than I intended, but gets the job done. I turn and push through the crowd to get to Keeley抯 room on the second floor, but by the time I reach her door he抯 behind me again.
And it just makes me sad.
I hate that he抯 still being the Ben I抎 begun to believe he might be, someone honest and invested, when I抳e already got proof he抯 not. 揋o back to your date,?I tell him, marching inside the room, looking for my stuff.
He follows me in, standing in the frame of the door with his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes narrowed. 揥hat the fuck is this about??he demands. 揑 wasn抰 with anyone. I don抰 know what the hell you抮e talking about. And what was that downstairs? I leave you alone for one fucking day and find you getting massaged by two guys at once??
揑 saw you, asshole,?I reply, and my throat tightens. Fuck. I refuse to cry in front of him. 揧ou and Juliet Cantrell. Having 憌ay too much fun? I抦 not here to help you cheat on another girl.?
He frowns. 揓uliet? I抦 not with Juliet.?
I pull the towel tighter around me, suddenly freezing. I want him to get the fuck out so I can change. 揜eally??I ask with an angry laugh. 揥ell, then you should tell your friend Drew, because she抯 saying something very different online.?
He stares at me in shock. 揧ou looked her up on Instagram,?he says quietly. 揧ou looked her up to see what I was doing this weekend.?He sounds incredulous rather than angry, but it抯 an accusation nonetheless.
I point my finger at him. 揇on抰 you dare make this about me and what I did. I抦 not the problem here.?
There抯 a quiet, pleased gleam in his eye. 揘or am I. Has it occurred to you yet that if I was with Juliet, I couldn抰 have left and driven two hours to come get you??